


All The Perfect Things I Doubt

by sickbed_00



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-07 04:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15901029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sickbed_00/pseuds/sickbed_00
Summary: Unpopular opinion: Adjacent fics exist so I can write OOC Kylux fluff.Matt returns from work detail to find out Techie has been sick with a bad fever. Since Techie isn't the best at taking care of himself, it's up to the galaxies goodest boyfriend to take on the task.*airhorn* BONUS chapter because I'm bored and I love fluff





	1. Chapter 1

Matt hefted off the heavy shoulder bag and let it fall with a clang to the ground. Fifteen pounds of scrap metal made a lovely echo though his living pod. It was one of the small perks of working with the First Order; any items replaced or discarded were free to the technicians to sell at metal works. It made for a tidy little severance package for some of the techs who were worried about the precarious nature of their work. Something for their families in the event they were blown to absolute smithereens in the line of duty. For Matt though, the extra money had only one meaning.

The living pods only allowed for a small cooler, just tall enough and deep enough for Matt to keep his treasure: exotic fruits from around the galaxy. Matt put almost as much work researching and cultivating the plants as he did on his technician duties. Each one had a different quality; high in vitamin C, good for balancing one’s metabolism, skin and hair health. Such effort was not for him though. They were an often unwelcome present for his boyfriend, a meek red head with the fortuitous name of Techie.

Matt had been trying to call Techie since his return from the latest planet-side assignment. It was not unusual for Techie to be so bogged down in his work he was oblivious to all of Matt’s check-ins.

Such knowledge though did not make that message inbox beep any easier on his heart.

“Hey, it’s me again; Matt. Um, so, I’m still back on _Finalizer_. Back in my pod now so I’m gonna mix you up some food and bring it to your station. I guess I’ll talk to you soon then.” Matt sighed. “Okay, bye.”

Food. One of the basic needs of all humans. All humans save Techie, anyway (which did add fuel to the theory that he might not actually be 100% human). Outside of oxygen, which his body took in automatically, Techie easily denied all life sustaining necessities so he might work uninterrupted. When Matt first met Techie, the young man was literal skin and bones. The bulk of his weight most likely coming from his metal cybernetic eyes. Through much cajoling, and a little trickery, Matt had managed to put a good fifteen pounds on his boyfriend.

Scrap metal had afforded Matt a used by still functioning food processor. Matt slowly filtered in some dried grains with the fruits to make a sort of thick gruel that would help with digestion. Techie absolutely hated it, but Matt did not do it to make Techie happy. Matt’s love was a wise kind of love. If he indulged Techie’s desires that poor man would still be a skeleton with a shock of greasy hair and big, blue whirring eyes.

Talk of Techie’s life before _Finalizer_ , before the new war and before Matt was highly limited. Techie had been a slave of some kind, bought by an outer rim gang and used for security coding. Those were the only details Techie had ever shared. Matt knew better than to push for more. There were scars on Techie’s stomach, his cybernetic eyes had been poorly inserted and caused Techie endless amounts of grief. Some nights he cried out in his sleep. Some days he would just stare off into nothing. Never would he eat.

Matt packed up some of the gruel and changed into the simpler cotton twill jumpsuit technicians were required to wear even when off duty. He then headed out to the lower levels where the software techs worked.

The lighting on the C4-Deck always gave Matt the creeps. Blue LED lighting strips ran along the ceiling and cast everything in harsh shadows. Techie explained the lights were best for working with screens and, moreover, were the easiest on his cybernetic eyes.

Almost immediately upon arrival, Matt ran into a tall woman with a hawk-like nose sulking around the halls. It was Mae Zadira, head of the C4-Deck and lead software technician. She was a highly unpleasant woman, but she was also Techie’s superior, so Matt always made an effort to be nice to her.

 “Hey there Mae,” Matt waved. Mae halted, a tight-lipped smirk on her face.

“Hello Matt. On your way to check on Techie I suppose?”

“Well, I mean,” Matt held up his bag, “I’m gonna bring him something to eat.” Mae chuckled.

“That will be a waste of your time.”

“Huh?”

“It surprises me little that Techie has not informed you about his condition,” Mae sighed, “I had to dismiss him from duty two days ago due to illness. He was so sick on the last day I couldn’t even get him out of the refresher.”

Matt felt his blood boil.

“Has anyone checked on him since?” He roared, but Mae remained unphased. She was used to Matt’s burst of anger. His tantrums were never violent, just obnoxious and overblown.

“Matt, I oversee two-hundred plus software technicians. I do not have time to play nurse to one. Especially one that does not appear to take his own health seriously. Techie has two more days of paid sick time and then he will be put on unpaid leave.” Mae nodded at him before turning back down the corridor, “Best of luck to you.”

Matt’s bulky frame awkwardly sprinted back to the elevator.

It had not occurred to Matt to grab the keycard copy to Techie’s room.

 “Techie?” Matt pounded on the door, causing it to rattle. “Techie; open up! It’s Matt!” Nothing.

Matt looked up and down the hallway. Once alone, he wriggled his fingers into the small slot between the door and wall and pushed with all his might. The flimsy door stood no chance.

“Techie?” Matt stepped into his boyfriend’s pod, pulling the now damaged door shut. Techie’s pod was no larger than Matt’s, but it was miserably claustrophobic due to piles of old monitors, hardware shells and bundles of wiring. Matt had often offered to take some of the hoard to a dealer to make some money, but Techie would just hide his cybernetic eyes behind his hair and mumble something about how he likes the clutter.

In the back of the pod, under the glow of a single porthole window, Techie made himself a sort of nest of blankets and pillows. It was there Matt found his boyfriend, burrowed so deep inside his nest only a small sliver of his red hair could be seen poking out.

With all the grace of a three-legged Fathier, Matt leapt across the piles to Techie’s make-shift bed.

“Hey you, wakey-wakey,” Matt gently shook the lump. Beneath the blankets came a small mewl, a pair fluttering mechanical blue-eyes poked out.  

“M-Matt?” Techie whispered, “Matt…you back…?”

“Yeah baby, I’m back,” Matt put his lips to Techie’s forehead. “You’re hot!” He flung the layers of blankets off the little nest. Beneath it all he found Techie folded up in a fetal position. All the lovely odors of Techie sweating out his illness hit Matt in one warm cloud, but he did not flinch. Techie on the other hand, in only his favorite yellow shirt and a pair of sweat pants that were barely clinging to his hips, curled up tighter into his little ball.

“Cold…,” he whimpered, teeth chattering.

“You got a bad fever,” Matt began to smooth back Techie’s damp hair. “Are you in any pain?” Techie shook his head.

“Cold,” he said again.

“I know, baby, I know. How about we get you a change of clothes?” Matt did not wait for a response. He began to sift through a pile of clothes near Techie’s nest, bringing each to his nose until he found a clean new shirt and bottom.

“Here we go,” Matt began with the sweat pants, since they were nearly off anyway. They slid down with ease, revealing a pair of boxers so ratty and torn Matt wondered why Techie bothered at all. Those too had to go. Techie’ uncircumcised cock laid flaccid in an unkept bed of red brambles.

Next was the shirt, which required a little more effort. It was Techie’s absolute favorite and always wore in when Matt was on an assignment. He whimpered softly as Matt tugged it over his head but stilled once Matt managed to pull and new fleece on.

 “That’s better,” Matt looked down at the discarded yellow shirt, a trail of vomit stains now clear on the front. Matt really wanted to give Techie a bath, but the living pods only had showers, and inefficient ones at that, with showers heads only five feet up the wall.

“When was the last time you ate?” Matt asked, helping Techie sit up a little bit in his nest, tucking a new blanket around his shoulders. Even in the limited light of the pod, Matt could see that the pink normally around Techie’s cybernetic eyes were an intense red. This was generally not a good sign, it might mean infection.  

“Can’t eat…,” Techie said quietly.

“When was the last time you threw up?”

“Little bit…long ago…Ms. Zadira made me come home.”

“I bet I have something that came help your stomach,” Matt tried to make the offer sound as appetizing as he could. “Wanna try?”

Techie shook his head. Once more though, Matt did not take his boyfriend’s wishes into consideration.

Techie made a sort of unintelligible plea when Matt left the bed to dig through his collection of home-made gruels.

“Baygo sprouts and red grun-grun root, the best thing to help with your nausea.”

“That root…,” Techie began, then, a little more quietly, “taste like shit…” Matt could not help but to smile.

“It’s gonna be good for you,” he insisted once more. After hunting around for a clean spoon, Matt returned to the bed with a bowl of the offending mix. “Five bites,” he bargained, “that’s all you gotta eat. Can you do it for me?”

“Matt…,” Techie slowly blinked his eyes. He looked so sweet in the soft glow coming from the blue planet below them.

“Five bites, and then,” Matt leaned in and kissed Techie on his…not so pleasant tasting lips, “I’ll stay here as long as you need me to,” but he kissed him again anyway, “I won’t leave your side.” And finished with a gentle rub of his nose against Techie’s. “I promise.”

“Five bites?”

“Five bites.” Matt spooned out the first one and held it up. “Ready?” Techie hesitantly began to open his mouth. The moment it was wide enough, Matt sent in the first spoonful. “One!”

Techie’s face scrunched up in absolute disgust. Still, he chewed, doing all he could to force the mouthful down his throat.

“One,” he said feebly, and opened his mouth for more.

The next few spoonfuls got a slightly warmer reception. Once Techie got familiar with the taste he gagged less and less of the gruel up.

“Last one,” Matt poised the last helping before Techie’s pouty lips.

“Yeah,” the effort of choking down Matt’s food was quickly draining Techie’s limited energy. “Yeah…”

The last spoonful went in. Techie barely even chewed it, jut swallowed it down, quick as he could.

 “I knew you could do it, baby,” Matt set the bowl aside and kicked off his boots. He neatly folded his glasses on one of the sturdier piles of garbage. Techie made a content sort of cooing noise as Matt climbed into the nest, his massive size swallowing up the sick man.

“So glad you’re home…,” Techie sighed, settling his head on Matt’s chest.  

“I missed you too, my little one,” Techie’s body was still quite warm, but the fever would break soon. A quiet rest and more food and he should be back to work in no time.

 “I’ll try to be better…” a little voice murmured over the sound of the engines. Matt felt his heart break into a thousand pieces.

“You don’t need to be better, just,” he petted Techie’s hair, still damp from the fever, “…I just want you to be okay.”

“I’ll be okay,” and he would, somehow. Matt never doubted for a moment that even with questionable mechanical eyes and scars covering both the inside and outside of his body, Techie would be okay. Okay was not the right word.

“I want you to be happy.”

“Am…happy…,” Techie pushed out over a yawn, nuzzling his face deeper into Matt’s chest. Soft snores were soon to follow.

Matt looked out the little porthole, out past the blue planet and into the vastness of space. There were more stars than one man could ever count in a whole lifetime. Planets teeming with so much life only a small fraction had ever been discovered. At any given moment someone was dying, someone was being born. All around, a pointless but consuming war tore the galaxy apart.

Techie made a little sigh in his sleep.

It was a very big universe out there, but in this moment none of it mattered. He was home, Techie had eaten.

Techie was happy.

And nothing else mattered.


	2. Chapter 2

Techie’s eyes required a minute to fully power up.

 It was an annoying process, but Techie had learned to lie still and slowly watch his vision come into focus. Before Matt, it could be a terrifying process, especially on those days when his eyes might need ten to fifteen minutes to adjust. When Matt was there, Techie could curl up into his wide chest, lie his head over Matt’s heart and listen to the steady beat until he could finally see.

He had an infection, Techie could feel the tingling hotness in the corner of each of his eyes. It was not uncommon; his cybernetic eyes had not been put in the sockets properly which made them more prone to such things. Techie certainly could admit that better hygiene on his part might help reduce the frequency.

He was trying, he really was…some days were just harder than others…

“Hey baby,” Techie felt Matt shift, running one of his big hands through Techie’s hair and pulling him in close. “How ya feelin’?”

“Better,” Techie whispered. Matt’s lips connected with his forehead.

“You’re not feverish anyone,” Teche felt Matt’s lips form a smile.

Matt smelled good; a mix of the clean cotton twill of his jumpsuit and the stock soap provided at the employee store. Techie just wanted to curl up inside of it and disappear.

“Hungry?”

“No.” The meal Matt had fed him earlier still sat heavy in his stomach, “Thank you for bringing me food.”

Formless shapes began to move in from Techie’s peripherals. His vision was getting better, though the tingling of the infection had not ebbed.

“Would you help me take a shower? My eyes are not working right…”

“I thought they looked pretty red,” Matt sighed, “you still have some of the ointment from last time?”

“Yeah, in the refresher.”

“Okay, well,” Matt began to stir beneath him, “let’s go ahead and get you a shower and then we can deal with that.”

Techie waited patiently as Matt stretched and crawled out of the nest. Gently he grabbed Techie’s wrist and began to guide him into a seated position.

“Ready?” Matt placed one arm behind Techie’s back and the other under his knees. Techie wrapped his arms around Matt’s neck.

“Ready.” With a little huff, Matt lifted his boyfriend from the bed and carried him into the bathroom.

Water rushed on, Techie felt Matt take his hand again.

“Okay, let me know how it feels.”

Tepid water hit Techie’s hand.

“Feels good,” he said.

“Lemme help you get you outta those clothes.” Techie put his arms up so Matt could slip off his shirt. At this point in their relationship, Techie felt little shame about needing Matt’s help. In the beginning, he cringed at the idea of letting the handsome radar tech see him so helpless. More than undressing him, Matt would get a full view of his body; mealy skin and poorly healed scars. The grotesque ball and socket design of his arms and legs.

“My poor boy,” Techie felt a soft kiss on the corner of his right eye, “I wish I never had to leave you,” and then the left.

“You’re back now,” Techie said quietly, “and that’s good enough for me.”

The shower was wonderful. As Matt washed his hair, he massaged Techie’s scalp with his giant hands. Afterwards he helped Techie dry himself off and carried him back to the little nest to find some clean clothes.

Matt then applied the ointment to the corner of Techie’s eyes. It was a generic type of antibiotic, one that any employee could pick up at the med bay. At the very least it had a cooling effect which made the infection a bit more bearable.

“We’ve got to get you new eyes,” Matt said dejectedly once he finished the task, “you can’t go on like this.”

“It’s okay,” Techie shrugged before he realized how selfish that sounded. “I mean, I’m used to it. I don’t like it and I know it’s hard for you to help me all the time but…”

“It’s not hard,” said Matt. “I’d do anything for you baby, you know that.”

“You shouldn’t have to…” Techie heard Matt sigh.

“Are you still not hungry?” At that question Techie began to curl his hands into his long sleeves.

“Will you be mad if I say no?”

“Of course not,” Techie felt a kiss on his cheek. “I am very proud of how much you ate last night.”

“I kinda just want to go back to sleep, if that’s okay.”

“You get all the rest you need.” Techie heard Matt move and then help Techie get tucked back into bed.

“Thank you,” Techie said quietly, a new round of sleepiness taking over.

“Of course,” more kisses were planted on Techie’s forehead. “I’ll be here catching up on my holodramas; if you need anything, just call.”

That was all Techie needed to hear. Matt loved him, Matt would always be there. He never had to be afraid of the dark again.


End file.
